UPDATED: Police make arrest in York student slaying

Investigators have charged a 29-year-old Toronto man with first-degree murder in connection with the mysterious death of York University student Qian Liu.

Police took Brian Dickson into police custody and laid the charge against him, homicide squad Inspector Edward Boyd told reporters at a hastily arranged press conference Wednesday afternoon. The man is scheduled to appear in a Finch Avenue courtroom at 10 a.m.

Insp. Boyd told the media not to publish any photos of Mr. Dickson “as it will compromise the investigation,” he said, adding that he would answer no further questions as the matter is before the courts.

Ms. Liu’s parents arrived in Toronto from Beijing at around 4 p.m. Wednesday and told media they believe their 23-year-old daughter is now at peace.

“I feel very sad. I sincerely thank the people concerned with my daughter’s case,” a tearful Jianhui Liu said in Chinese, adding that and he hopes police will solve the case as soon as possible.

Mr. Liu arrived at Terminal 3 on a Hainan Airlines flight from Beijing with his wife and an official from the Chinese consulate.

Their daughter’s body was found in her basement apartment Friday morning at 27 Aldwinkle Heights near York University and was initially treated as a suspicious death. Investigators soon learned a struggle had been witnessed by Ms. Liu’s boyfriend in China whom she’d been chatting with via webcam at the time of the attack. An autopsy of Ms. Liu did not reveal how she died, but police began treating her death as a homicide on Tuesday. Police are awaiting results from toxicology tests which might shed more light on how she died.

Meanwhile, York University has ramped up security around campus in light of Ms. Liu’s death in an area known as “The York Village,” just south of York.

“The York community is mourning the loss of one of our students, Qian Liu,” the university’s president and vice-chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri said in a statement. “At this difficult time there is a heightened level of concern among students about safety. Safety has been and remains a top priority at York University, so we are committing additional resources, above and beyond the safety measures and initiatives that we have already implemented this past year, and have planned for the future.”

Sex attacks have happened on York University campus before, the most recent a rape reported this week by the York Federation of Students, which has planned Take Back The Village Community Forum for Thursday night.